


I Hate Your Birthday

by PercyFied



Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: M/M, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:41:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25637494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PercyFied/pseuds/PercyFied
Summary: Leo Amherst is a teenage trans man in the South. And somehow, that isn't even the worst thing to happen to him.Tags will update as the story updates, please make sure to read them each time in case of trigger warnings.
Kudos: 1





	I Hate Your Birthday

He always considered his life a hell. Just a horrible mindscape, a place he begged for escape from each night in his diary. 

This is due to a variety of things, but it's always best to start from the beginning.

When he was born, the world saw a girl. His parents saw Sophia. Their beautiful baby girl, the light of their life. The perfect puzzle piece for their family. 

Then they decided they were not a puzzle or connected at all and the divorce was finalized just three days after his 8th birthday and just three days after what he still likes to call the cake smash bash in his head. He recalls the wretched memories of his mother lunging his red velvet red frosting cake directly into his father's face and creating a seemingly morbid picture for his tiny and weak eight year old psyche. At the time he laughed. His friends at his party did not. They went home that night and asked their parents what taxes and mortgages were and what a potbellied whore was. And that's when said friends' parents would decide to never attend that child's parties again.

His mother quickly found a boyfriend and that boyfriend quickly found his way into his mother's pants as a brother soon appeared in his life and said boyfriend disappeared just as fast. His mother talked for months on men after this, constantly warning him of their dangers. 

“Sophia, men are poison. Don't deal with them. I hope you just become a lesbian so I won't have to deal with your crying when a boy cheats on you.” She would say. She wouldn't explain what a lesbian is. Eventually, he stopped asking her questions.

His father never had much interest in him. He never enjoyed the baseball games or TV shows his dad had him watch, the most enthralling of their shared endeavors was their time spent playing video games, or on occasion watching Star Wars. His dad always said he would make an amazing girl gamer and boys would love him. He wondered why everything he did was connected to boys. 

His little brother was named Luke at his suggestion. He said this due to the mutual enjoyment- At least Luke would have a connection to his half-father(?), and the similarity to the name he wanted- Leo. As he grew into the teenager he faces each day that name grew to be tattooed into his heart and mind and soul. To him, Sophia is dead. No- no. No. She never was alive, Sophia was Leo the entire time. There was a mixup in the baby factory his mom talks about and Leo is in Sophia's house.

Leo always did feel like he was an intruder. He never felt like he was home, he felt the need to sneak whenever he left the safe haven of his room. But whenever he was spotted he wished they would simply call the police and not just make snide little comments about how the creature escaped its cave. Both parents did this and Leo never found himself finding refuge. 

While his home life was nowhere near ideal, you could say he had friends at the very least. Yes, he considers the gaggle of punks he smokes with behind the school friends. There's not many people he speaks to a lot, at least that he considers his friends. A few like him, he likes a few, but his real connection is a boy. 

This boy lives in Connecticut. Which is sad. Because, for one, Leo doesn't live there. And two, it's Connecticut. He met the boy online, and their relationship has grown since they met in a chatroom for tweens, that they both frequented at age 11. His name is Trent, but Leo calls him Cinna. Because Cinna loves cinnamon and can also never spell cinnamon and it makes Leo happy. Leo never told Cinna he was in Sophia's house. 

During school, there was a strange crowd he found himself in. People called them lost causes. The ones you never want your kids to see in case they'll puff some smoke into their face. And Leo fell in love as soon as he fell into this group and was offered a cigarette. 

A junior was the generous soul offering one to him. The kid had a blonde head of half-shaved hair and eyeliner and skinny jeans and black clothes. He looked a lot like Andy Biersack. How do you expect Leo to refuse? He took the cigarette and the junior leaned closer and pressed the burning tip of his own cig to Leos and as he inhaled he tried not to choke. Then the boy smirked puffed smoke into his face and told his name. It was Nail. 

No, not Niall but Nail. Leo felt his heart thump hard against his rib cage as they sat in the back steps and shared stories and poetry. 

Leo never wrote poetry. Poetry was for girls, wasn't it? It's shameful and soft in his eyes. He imagined his father finding a poem and laughing his head off and Leo shuddered and continued listening as a girl droned out her story about tormenting her brother. 

This girl complained about her brother like she had a birthright. “He always just gets under my god damn skin! Knocking on my door like-” She imitated a child with a high pitched, scared voice, “Oh-Oh Katie, mom said dinners ready,`` she reverted to her normal pitch. “Like, one, my name is KAT. Two, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BOTHER ME? Like, God, leave me alone.”

Leo never liked his brother too much. He wasn't great. What could a 15-year-old expect from a kid? Luke was only 7, he didn't do much. He plays on his tablet and occasionally asks for applesauce. He doesn't do anything major. Luke was just- average. 

“How bout you, Leon?” Nail droned, looking at him again, the N added to the end of his name sounding like sex on his tongue. Leo wasn't sure if the boy was flirting- so he didn't mention it and tried to ignore his blush as he took another cigarette puff and responded as the smoke tumbled from his mouth. 

“Well- Siblings? I have a lil brother named Luke- He…” There was a pause. “He sucks. Total dweeb,” He leaned his head to lay on his shoulder as he considered. “Always so clingy and annoying, yaknow?” He was desperate to connect to these troubled youth- finally some people to connect to him, even if those connections were ever so slightly fabricated. 

“What a tragedy… want us to beat him up?” Nail asked, voice all too serious and Leo's voice rose an octave quickly. 

“What?? No!”

“Oh, quiet down, pussy! I'm just messin around!” He let out this laugh, and Leo's stomach turned to mush. He could feel his heart fluttering endlessly, and somehow he knew even now he's in love. Stumbling behind the school to avoid the bullies he often faced was the best idea he ever had. Young, in love, dumb. It's simply the best way to be. They say fifteen is too young to know anything. 

Leo, on the other hand, is smart. He's known a lot of shit from a very young age- Love, for example. True love may not exist, but passion burning in your heart gives you the same high. Watching a relationship crumble down up close gave him plenty of insight into the intricacies of the heart, it has given him a soft side he often shoves aside and hides. He has built a shell around him, with spikes, but Nail blew into pieces with his first puff of smoke. 

More stories were passed around, more cigarettes were burned and puffed (Leo tried to not cough too much- Nail said these ones were smoother than regular, so he didn't want to seem dramatic), and the piercing bell of school soon rang, the school day was finally over and Leo estimated he had lost his entire last period- and part of his second to last. Leo glanced towards the busses, lugging his backpack back over his shoulders. When he tried to tread forward, however, he was stopped by a firm hand landing on his arm. 

"You want me to drive you?" 

Sweeter words have never existed. They will stick to his brain like honey, and he will lick them and steal their substance until it is all gone. 

His wide eyes stared back, and he slowly but steadily nodded. He watched Nail smile, and he was led to a shitty black car that smelled like fire. Leo had never been the type to enjoy cars, never really noticed anything about them, but this car smelt like it was on the brink of explosion and it made him smile in a way he felt the need to hide. 

Expecting a private car ride was high hopes, but he tried to not seem disappointed when a couple of people began greeting Nail, and he stood awkwardly, leaning onto the door of the car and watching. People watching was always practically a talent, he always found every person to be an open book. He could easily read who a person projected to the world, and it's laughably predictable whenever he tries to consider what they hide underneath. 

The world is made of cliches. When you learn them, you can grow out of them. 

Nail didn't seem to be hiding anything, though. It was a big shock to Leo that any living human could exude so much raw confidence. He's sure he would've noticed him before if Nail didn't reside so heavily within the shadows of the school. 

Oh how Leo wished he had ventured into the shadows long ago.

Nail eventually was finished being hounded, and five people were left. Leo's eyes studied each quickly as Nail began to speak to the group. 

"Bags in the trunk, boys, I gotta get home eventually." He said, opening the car door and popping the trunk. The backpacks went into the trunk and the students packed into the car like sardines. An equally punk boy sat next to Nail in front, and Leo sat next to a window, behind the passenger seat. 

They got onto the road, Leo looking out the window as the punk in front of him filtered through his playlists, finding something loud and ear-grating to play for the rest of the car. Nail groaned, and Leo looked over, worried he was upset. But he had a wide grin, smacking the wheel. He had never heard that noise associated with a smile, it was strange, but he simply looked back out of the window. 

Leo's mind wandered for the most part, and eventually, he noticed he was alone in the backseat as Nail made a noise, clicking with his tongue, to get his attention. 

"Y'know, I don't know where you live. What county?" He asked, glancing back completely, facing away from the road. It filled Leo with anxiety, but it was exciting at the same time. 

"I live in Pointside Park," He said after a beat of silence, taking that moment to prepare his voice. It was always an uphill battle to keep his voice low and even, smooth like skin with too much lotion.

“Oh, awesome, so does Marley,” He said as he reached over to smack the boy in the passenger seat on the arm. 

Marley glanced back this time, “D’you live by that corner store- Berry’s?” He asked, and Leo nodded instantly, and Marley smiled a bit- 

“Do you have a mouth piercing?” Leo asked, eyes suddenly wide. 

Marley looked a bit surprised at Leo's sudden question, before smiling wide again as if showing off the metal in front of his teeth, “What, my smiley? Yeah, Nail helped me do it at the park a year or so ago. It rules, right?”

Leo’s surprise left slowly, his nod understanding. Even just meeting Nail, it feels like something he would do. He seemed dangerous in so many ways, and alluring all the same. Like bright flowers in the amazon, like a venus flytrap waiting so innocently for his next victim, like a moth to a flame Leo was setting himself up just for him.

“I wish I could get piercings,” Leo said absently, looking out the window again. 

“Everyone can get piercings, man,” Nail said quickly, glancing back again to make eye contact with Leo, and Leo felt like crumpling in on himself.

“Oh, no, I just think my dad would like, rip a piercing out of my face if I got one. He calls it ‘hippie shit,’ he doesn’t even like when people wear fuckin’ tie-dye,” Leo complained so easily about his father, the disdain clear in his voice. 

Nail hummed softly and tapped his steering wheel.

“Hey Marley, you busy today?” Nail asked, voice smooth.

“Nah, not really.”

With that, Nail sped up slightly and looked at Leo through the rearview mirror. His look was so excitedly determined, his smile sharp as a knife.

“You need a septum piercing,” Nail said. It wasn't a question, it was stern, stated as fact.

“I do?”

Nail just smirked as he turned onto a road that was not towards Pointside Park and Leo felt like hell was hotter than he was told in Sunday School.


End file.
